<p>Within the theoretical framework of positive psychology, this study explores the mechanism through which tourism emotional experience influences college students’ psychological resilience, constructing a chain mediation model with positive affect and self-reflection as mediating variables. A questionnaire survey was conducted among 656 college students who had participated in domestic tourism, and empirical analysis was performed using structural equation modeling and the bootstrapping method. The results show that: (1) tourism emotional experience has a significant positive impact on college students’ psychological resilience; (2) both positive affect and self-reflection play significant mediating roles between tourism emotional experience and psychological resilience; and (3) the chain mediation pathway formed by positive affect and self-reflection is significant, indicating that tourism emotional experience enhances psychological resilience by stimulating positive affect, which in turn promotes self-reflection. This study expands the intersection of tourism psychology and positive psychology, highlights the positive value of tourism experiences for the psychological development of young people, and provides theoretical references and practical implications for promoting mental health in universities and designing tourism products.</p>